Communicating Across Cultures

Perception in Communication

In living our lives and communicating with each other our perception of reality is less important than reality itself. Some would argue that there IS no ultimate reality, only the illusion of our perceptions.

environmental elements -- what information is out there to receive, its context.

learned elements -- culture, personality, habit: what filters we use to select what we take in and how we react to it.

(from Marshall Singer's work)

For example, color blind people will not perceive "red" the way as other people do. Those with normal vision may physically see "red" similarly, but will interpret it culturally:

red meaning "stop" or "anger" or "excitement" or "in debt" (US)

red meaning "good fortune" (China)

red meaning your school's colors

Selective Attention

The world deluges us with sensory information every second. Our mind produces interpretations and models and perceptions a mile a minute. To survive, we have to select what information we attend to and what we remember.